Music in itunes, PC in study. Best solution for playing music in my lounge?

[admin_exported]

All my music is stored on a rather noisy PC which i keep in the study. I currently don't own a hifi/amp/speakers etc but am about to buy one.

I want stream my music collection from my PC and play it at best quality in my lounge. I would like to stick with itunes as the music player because I can control it remotely with my iphone on my WLAN.

What is the best wireless solution? Airport express + amp + speakers? Does the airport express link just link to the amp via phono leads? Is there a neater integrated way?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

 

[professorhat]

I would say Airport Express for definite since it links nicely with your iTunes and iPhone. You could either look at a traditional stereo amp and speakers (yup, just a 3.5mm mini-jack lead to RCA phono cable required for this) or you could look at an active solution like the ones from AVI. The ADM 9.1s are quite expensive but come very highly recommended from a few people on this forum (I haven't heard them personally).
To further improve the sound if you go with a traditional setup, you can look at an external DAC as well.

 

[Anonymous]

Yep, using an AX you could use the 3.5mm analogue out straight into whatever amp you get...a better option would perhaps be using the same out but with an optical cable into a capable amp with optical inputs, thus using the amps internal DAC, or the best option as Prof suggests would be to run the optical out into a separate DAC (plenty of options and price ranges to choose from) then from here into your amp....

Also, staying in the Apple camp, for slightly more cost, consider the AppleTV, which will give you Analogue outs, Optical out as well as a HDMI out - the latter giving you a visual option also. You will also have the option to stream content to the AppleTV from your computer, store it locally on the internal harddrive, or a combination of the two.....

 

[Anonymous]

And yes, with my iPhone, or iTouch that I keep in the living room specifically, I can select any one of the Macs, AppleTV, or AX, scroll through the content, and play....Dream

 

[John Duncan]

Yep - provided you have a stereo already, Airport Express plus a 3.5mm jack - 2 x phono lead is all you need. Quality is extremely impressive for the price, and you can up the ante by adding a DAC such as the £120 Beresford off eBay or the upcoming Cambridge DACMagic (which I understand is better but is a bit dearer) - which is precisely what I'm going to do as soon as it hits the shops.

Do you have an amp and speakers already?

 

[John Duncan]

Edit - just read your first line and see that you have no amp/speakers, in which case there's the AVI setup mentioned above as well, but your budget will determine your best options..........

 

[Anonymous]

Thankyou all so much for your ideas. I think I'm going to go for the AX + optical connection + standard amp. My budget is about 600 quid for the lot...I've been scouring ebay for some 2nd hand bargains.

As an aside, am I the only one who thinks using a 3.5mm jack and phono leads would negate the value of a decent pair of speakers and an amp?

 

[professorhat]

You'll probably struggle to find a stereo integrated amp with an optical input.
M4tth3w:am I the only one who thinks using a 3.5mm jack and phono leads would negate the value of a decent pair of speakers and an amp?
Well it depends how much you're spending and then how much you spend on the cable as well - you can get some better ones than just the standard ones from the likes of Maplin - in a £600 system, it's probably worth looking into some of these and trying to get a few on trial if you can. You're also reliant on the DAC built into the AE of course, which I believe is excellent value considering the price of the unit, but obviously can be improved upon in a higher end setup with an external one like the ones John has mentioned.

 

[John Duncan]

M4tth3w:As an aside, am I the only one who thinks using a 3.5mm jack and phono leads would negate the value of a decent pair of speakers and an amp?

I use a Gotham into my Primare

 

[Anonymous]

M4tth3w:
As an aside, am I the only one who thinks using a 3.5mm jack and phono leads would negate the value of a decent pair of speakers and an amp?

I don't think it's going to hurt with amps and speakers at this point...There's still potential for great sound. Pick up a decent cable to ensure whatever amp you get is receiving the best feed it can - Chord will make you up a 3.5mm-2 Phono iChord.

 

[Anonymous]

OK great

I thought either the Cambridge Audio Azur 340A SE (£180) or the Rotel RA-04 (£250) with the iCord 3.5-2phono (£44) + the AX (£65)...leaving me 250-300 for a pair of speakers and cable. What do you think? My first forray into hifi...

 

[professorhat]

Sounds good - don't forget speaker stands as well - I wouldn't really look at floorstanders at that budget personally.

 

[John Duncan]

I'd stick with a Belkin or Gotham cable first up, if your budget is tight. And I got an 800 quid amp on eBay for 300 quid, which would leave upwards of 200 quid for speakers. That's a nice system you can have there.........

 

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to say thanks for all the advice and to let you know what i went for...

Having been dead against any sort of dock/all in one thing this time I went into my local hifi store and saw the B&W Zeppelin. While the guy went in the back to find the rotel amp I was planning to buy, i plugged my iphone into ther Zep...and it sounded great.

Bought that + AX + IXOS toslink mini jack-mini jack (£1.99! from discountdiscs on amazon)

Its all set up and sounds great, and works with the iphone remote via itunes.

 

[John Duncan]

Oh.

 

[Anonymous]

One other thing. Itunes 8 + vista + airtunes doesnt work properly at this point in time. This took me days to sort out having only ever used the AX with itunes 8. Rolled itunes back to 7.7 and no more dropouts.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh what!?

 

[John Duncan]

Well I know the Zeppelin was fairly ecstatically reviewed, but I wasn't convinced. But if you're blown away, that's all that matters.

 

[Anonymous]

I think for the money I had it was probably the neatest solution.

 

[John Duncan]

Then result. Sorry, didn't mean to p--s on your parade!

 

[Anonymous]

;0)